New York investor Robert E. Robotti has joined the board of San Diego's Advanced Marketing Services in a deal that ends his three-month battle to gain influence over the troubled company's turnaround efforts.

In a statement yesterday , the San Diego company said Robotti and Advanced Marketing chief executive Gary M. Rautenstrauch were appointed to its board of directors. Robotti also was appointed to the board's governance and compensation committees.

As part of the deal, Robotti agreed to drop his effort to gain three board seats in a proxy challenge that was set to play out at the company's stockholders' meeting on Jan. 24.

Neither Robotti nor his lawyer, Matthew J. Day, returned calls yesterday for comment about the development.

Through his Ravenswood Investment and several related New York firms, Robotti controls about 1.3 million shares, or roughly 7 percent of Advanced Marketing's common stock.

Rautenstrauch, who is the fourth person to head the company since an accounting scandal broke in 2003, also was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Advanced Marketing was once one of San Diego's high-flying companies, with stock that traded on the New York Stock Exchange. But the company has been struggling. Last year, three marketing executives were indicted for their roles in a fraud that exaggerated the company's earnings. All three later pleaded guilty.

Stock in the company, which distributes best-selling books to warehouse stores and provides customized merchandizing services, now trades on the pink sheets in the over-the-counter market. The price slipped 10 cents a share yesterday, closing at $2.60.

Despite the troubles, Advanced Marketing remains a substantial business. The company has about 1,400 employees and more than $760 million in annual revenue.

In March, Advanced Marketing restated its financial results for a five-year period. The restatement lowered the company's earnings for the period, but it claimed sales of more than $915 million in 2005. The company's auditor has not yet certified the restatement.

In June, Advanced Marketing said it was deregistering its common stock. That way, the company said, it would no longer be required to file regular financial statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. AMS said at the time that the cost and commitment of management's time to meeting “increasing” regulatory requirements could no longer be justified.

Robotti began criticizing the company several months ago after he was unable to get information about the company's financial performance.

In September, he formally notified the company of his plans to nominate himself and two representatives to the company's seven-member board of directors. He also began agitating for Advanced Marketing to schedule a shareholders meeting, which the company has not held since 2003.